PoE Chain Hook Build 3.25 – Path of Exile: Settlers of Kalguur

The Chain Hook build in Path of Exile offers a dynamic and versatile playstyle focused on mobility and powerful melee attacks. This guide provides a comprehensive look at how to build around Chain Hook effectively in the 3.25 patch.

Key Features of Chain Hook

Chain Hook (Level 20):

• Attack, AoE, Movement, Melee: Chain Hook is a melee attack that allows you to pull yourself to enemies when used at range, dealing area damage behind them. When used close to the enemy, it causes area damage directly.
• Mana Cost: 8 mana.
• Attack Speed: 120% of base.
• Attack Damage: 393.1% of base.
• Effectiveness of Added Damage: 393%.
• Weapon Requirements: Requires Level 70, 155 Strength, and a One-Handed Mace, Sceptre, Sword, or Axe.
• Range Mechanics:
  • +0.1 metres to Radius per 5 Rage.
  • Gain 3 Rage on Attack Hit.

Building Around Chain Hook

1. Weapon Choice:

• One-Handed Maces, Sceptres, Swords, or Axes: Choose high-damage weapons with added physical damage, increased attack speed, and critical strike chance to maximize your damage output.

2. Passive Skill Tree:

• Focus on nodes that enhance melee damage, attack speed, critical strike chance, life, and physical damage mitigation. Specific clusters to prioritize include those near the Marauder, Duelist, and Templar start areas.
• Consider pathing to nodes that increase life regeneration, armour, and resistances.

Ascendancy Choices

1. Juggernaut:

• Unflinching: Grants endurance charge generation and reduces physical damage taken.
• Unyielding: Increases the effectiveness of fortify and grants damage reduction.
• Unbreakable: Increases armour and grants life recovery based on physical damage prevention.
• Unstoppable: Grants immunity to stuns and slows, and increases movement speed.

2. Slayer:

• Headsman: Increases damage and grants culling strike.
• Bane of Legends: Grants increased damage against unique enemies and culling strike.
• Endless Hunger: Grants life leech effects that continue past full life.
• Brutal Fervour: Enhances leech effects and grants immunity to stun while leeching.

Support Gems

1. Main Skill Setup:

• Chain Hook: Primary attack skill.
• Support Gems: Brutality, Melee Physical Damage, Multistrike, Fortify, Pulverise, and Ruthless.

2. Secondary Skill Setup:

• Ancestral Warchief: Totem skill to enhance melee damage.
• Support Gems: Multiple Totems, Melee Physical Damage, and Brutality.

3. Utility Skills:

• Leap Slam: For additional mobility.
• Steelskin / Immortal Call: For defense.
• Blood and Sand: To switch between Blood and Sand stances.
• Precision: For increased critical strike chance and accuracy.

Armor and Accessories

1. Armor:

• Body Armor: Prioritize armor with high life, resistances, and physical damage reduction. Consider options like Belly of the Beast for increased life and resistances.
• Helmet, Gloves, and Boots: Look for items that boost melee damage, attack speed, life, and resistances. Consider using items with life regeneration to enhance survivability.

2. Accessories:

• Amulet and Rings: Focus on items that enhance physical damage, life, resistances, and critical strike chance. Look for mods that increase stun duration and damage mitigation.
• Belt: A Stygian Vise with life, resistances, and increased physical damage is ideal.

Flask Setup

1. Life Flask:

• Instant Recovery: For emergency healing.

2. Utility Flasks:

• Quicksilver Flask: For increased movement speed.
• Basalt Flask: For physical damage reduction.
• Jade Flask: For increased evasion.
• Atziri’s Promise: For additional chaos damage and life leech.

Combat Strategy

1. Engaging Enemies:

• Use Chain Hook to pull yourself to enemies, maximizing mobility and area damage. Utilize the Rage mechanic to increase your attack radius and damage.
• Use your primary attack skill to deal damage while maintaining your Rage and positioning.

2. Utilizing Ascendancy Passives:

• Leverage the Juggernaut or Slayer passives to enhance survivability and damage output. Use Juggernaut for a focus on physical damage mitigation and endurance charges, and Slayer for leeching and culling strike.

3. Managing Buffs and Debuffs:

• Maintain high uptime on Blood and Sand stances and leverage the increased damage and control provided by each stance.
• Use your flasks to boost damage, resistances, and survivability during combat.

Example Builds

1. Juggernaut Chain Hook Build:

• Focus on physical damage mitigation and endurance charges.
• Utilize Unflinching and Unyielding to maximize survivability.
• Use support gems that enhance physical damage and fortify effects.

2. Slayer Chain Hook Build:

• Focus on leeching and culling strike.
• Utilize Headsman and Bane of Legends to increase damage and survivability.
• Use support gems that enhance physical damage and leech effects.

Conclusion

The Chain Hook build for Path of Exile 3.25 offers a versatile and powerful playstyle for melee enthusiasts who enjoy combining high damage with unique movement mechanics. By focusing on maximizing damage, attack speed, and physical damage mitigation, players can effectively dominate both single-target and group encounters. Proper gear selection, passive skill tree planning, and strategic use of ascendancy passives will ensure that you unleash the full potential of this powerful skill. Equip your weapons, prepare your flasks, and pull yourself into the heart of battle with the devastating power of Chain Hook.